The present invention relates to a device for training human limb motion and in particular to a device that trains a walking user.
Walking impairment can be caused by disorders of the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, and musculoskeletal system. Strokes, for example, which occur when blood flow to a region of the brain is obstructed, are a leading cause of severe long-term disability. Studies have shown that while many stroke sufferers have adequate strength at each joint, for example, for walking, the stroke may make it difficult for the sufferer to coordinate this strength for walking.
Rehabilitation efforts for stroke victims often use conventional exercise equipment to retrain correct limb motion. Such exercise equipment, for example, a stationary bicycle, provides resistance along a constrained path of movement that is intended to approximate a desired path of movement that the patient is trying to learn. This constraint may hide basic errors in muscle activation patterns and/or promote compensating behaviors by the patient without addressing the underlying muscle activation errors.
Effective training of walking can be difficult because some constraint on the motion of the patient is required to keep the patient safe, to couple the patient to the training device for measurement, and to apply training motion and forces.